This past Friday night, 36 Crazyfists lived a night of rock stars. Friday, Feb 27th was their homecoming show, a bit of a pre-release show, in Alaska. A sold out show, played to a packed house at the nearly 3,000 person capacity Egan Civic Center. “Literally, the best show of our lives,” tells guitarist Steve Holt. The band arrived in the homeland of Alaska on Wednesday night, where they checked into the Hilton (suites, no less, they get the treatment in Alaska), and was then whisked away to the famous Chilkoot’s. Huh? Chilkoot Charlies is the apparent-world-famous Alaskan bar that ranked 4th on Playboy’s list of top party places in the US. True. And no, the band did not meet Jessica Hahn that night. After Thursday – a day partying with friends, an in-store, and the obligatory trip to a strip club – came Friday (of course), the day of the show. “The line outside was fuckin’ amazing, (it) wrapped around several blocks,” exclaims Holt. As for 36 CF’s set, they played their longest set to date, 16 songs in an hour and fifteen minutes. A set that was opened AND closed with “Waterhaul,” a track off the upcoming A Snow Capped Romance CD. “(‘Waterhaul’ is) heavy ass shit. We split it evenly, open with the first half of the song and close with the second half.” The band arrived back in Portland on Monday night, where they are now looking to nail down upcoming touring. Hopefully will have word by as soon as the end of the week. In the meantime, to hear “Waterhaul” and all the other tracks from 36 CF’s upcoming release, check out www.36crazyfists.com/ecard. New video for “At The End Of August” should be online come Friday. And we’d like to give a shout out to www.eastcoastromper.com, currently featuring 36 CF as their band of the month. 36 Crazyfists A Snow Capped Romance in stores March 15th

During the Chimaira tour, we asked you to send in your questions for Rob Arnold from Chimaira in our Ask The Artist section. We were overwhelmed with the response. Not only did we put 10 or so questions to him – and post up his answers there, but we also put a few more of your questions to him… and here is the first half. Thanks for sending in so many questions! Do you think Carcass should re-form with all those old bands coming back? (Pay-G) No. A lot of bands that try to do a ’round Z’ with their careers end up failing. Let a good thing die. What essential items do you always take on the road with you? (Lee Kelly) -Cell phone
-Lap top
-Plenty of socks and boxers
-Soap
-CD’s
-Acoustic guitar Do you ever get freaked out when people talk about ‘The Chimaira curse’? (Lee Kelly) I don’t really get freaked out, but it brings back some unpleasant memories. A race of Alien beings are attacking the planet, wiping out all forms of music and musical instruments. You have found a place that only 5 CD’s can be hidden away safely until the green men leave. Which 5 albums would you save? Remember, these are going to be the only albums left in the world! (Lee Kelly) Metallica- ‘And Justice For All’, Pantera- ‘Far Beyond Driven’, Alice In Chains- ‘Dirt’, Cannibal Corpse- ‘The Bleeding’, 50 Cent- ‘Get Rich Or Die Trying’ (I’ve gotta have something around to get the ladies in the mood just incase the situation comes about!) When you were learning to solo did you practice any specific scales? How many hours a day did you practice? (Davin) I didn’t really practice any scales. In fact, I don’t even know too many. I basically just tried to learn the solos that I liked from my favorite bands. In my practicing prime, I practiced around 6-8 hours a day. Chimaira are a great band and amazing live but how much of a toll does it take on you, day in day out performing like you do? (Chris Rob) It takes its toll after a while, but if you’re doing something that you love to do night after night, it really doesn’t get old. [more to come…]

If you saw the awesome Every Time I Die live supporting Chimaira you’ll want to check out their latest ‘Hot Damn!’ CD. Released on March 8th with 3 bonus tracks it’s available for around 퉌£10.99 from HMV, Virgin, MVC, Music Zone and your local official ‘Roadrage’ store. Meanwhile, here’s a few interview snippets with Stephen for you…. Which still active band do you have the most respect for? Why? Even though I don’t like them that much, I’d have to say Pearl Jam. They look like uncles now, but still put out records and tour. And they do it with no music videos or barely any press in the US ‘State Of Love And Trust’ is still a great song though. Which musicians or people are your biggest influences? Bass wise, Zeppelin or Faith No More do it for me. I’ll listen to Stone Temple Pilots one day, Radiohead the next, then Slayer after that. Being open-minded leads to the best possible music in my opinion. Of the bands you have toured with so far, which has been the most memorable? Definitely Cave In. It makes touring much more fun when you actually like the music of a band, and then come to that there all great guys. Lots of respect for those dudes. Definitely my favorite. How long have you been playing for? I started playing guitar when I was 14, cause I wanted to learn that Lenny Kravitz riff, from ‘Are You Gonna Go My Way’. I only picked up a bass 2 years ago to jam in ETID. Do you have a ‘I must own one, one day’ bass? I’m more into guitars then basses. But I’ll say a 1990’s Gibson Grabber Bass. Come on, Gene Simmons played one!

It is the time of the year for the Canadian Juno Awards again. And this year, we are thrilled to announce that Nickelback have received a massive five nominations! They are: Album Of The Year, Single Of The Year, Group Of The Year, Rock Album Of The Year, and Juno Fan Choice Award. The awards will be broadcast live from Rexall Place in Edmonton on Sunday April 4th at 8pm ET (1am GMT). Best of luck and many congratulations to the band for all the nominations!

Have you picked up this month’s copy of Metal Hammer magazine yet? It’s got our very own Mark Hunter of Chimaira and Jamey Jasta of Hatebreed adorning the cover! If not, you should, for it is absolutely chockful of Roadrunner goodness! And you get a free CD, with a stonking FIVE Roadrunner tracks – Killswitch Engage, Hatebreed, Chimaira, Every Time I Die, and Scarlet. Make sure you read the following pages: 2 – Chimaira’s Mark Hunter decorates the contents page 8 – Your free CD tracklisting, also featuring Mark Hunter, on top of a tank no less. 12 – Jasta Minute – a brand new regular column from Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta. 14 – Murderdoll Wednesday 13’s regular column ‘Full Metal Jack Off’, and a small snippet about the new Soulfly album. 18 – Spotlight on Ferret Records – our new buddies in bringing you the likes of Every Time I Die and Scarlet. 20 – Small titbit about ‘Late Night Crue’ – featuring members of Killswitch Engage! 32 – Feature on the artwork of Mike D’Antonio (Killswitch Engage) 39-55 – Monster feature on the N.W.O.A.H.M (New Wave Of American Heavy Metal) all about Mark Hunter (Chimaira) and Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed). Plus bonus piece on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball, returning to UK TV, hosted by Jasta! 96-99 – Story behind the album feature on Sepultura’s Chaos AD. 103 – Great 9/10 review of Chimaira’s limited edition digipack CD ‘The Impossibility Of Reason’.

Did you know? Right this very second, Burton C. Bell and Christian Olde Wolbers from Fear Factory are here in London. The guys flew in yesterday lunchtime for a couple days of promotion for the forthcoming new Fear Factory album ‘Archetype’ – due out April 19th. We’ll be putting some questions from our street & e-team to Burton tomorrow morning, so watch out for his answers on the site soon!

Understanding Radioactivist – Red Tape’s vocalist Jeff explains the meaning behind the songs a3xe4bcR (intro) This was SUPPOSED to say í¢ä‰åñcatch fireí¢ä‰åŒ in Russian, but it was spelled wrong on the layout. We decided to keep the mistake since it still looked crazy… that’s the whole idea. The music was created by using 3 tracks of guitar with an ebow, octave pedal, and fuzz distortion. It’s basically the soundtrack to the coming Armageddon. Damage Control This song went through several lyrical changes before settling on í¢ä‰åñDamage Controlí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìat one point it was called í¢ä‰åñRelease The Dogsí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìbut a similar sounding punk band (*cough*BoySetsFire*cough*) just put out a song with the same name. Plus the term was kind of clich퀌© for Red Tape í¢ä‰åäóì you know we have to be all weird and shit! It’s a song about rejecting oppression, and seeking revenge. There is a joke version of this song floating around on the internet somewhere… High Revoltage I wrote this about all the cool happenings in my hometown that always end up getting shut down, or cracked-down upon in some way. The whole song is a burst of energy and was written in about 20 minutes. Stalingrad The lyrics started off filled with negativity, thoughts of world destruction, and my own demise… then that got old and I was feeling more hopeful and energized. It’s basically me trippin on life in general í¢ä‰åäóì how the struggles and lessons-to-be-learned seem to never end, but you push ahead. I give a nod to the people that seem to have it so easy… really it’s all your own state of mind í¢ä‰åäóì embracing the struggle and stuff. I don’t know… it just all reminded me of WWII í¢ä‰åäóì Russian tanks and sleeplessness. The music was influenced by Black Flag, Avengers, and Helmet. There’s a cool studio trick in the song where the guitar in the verse is mono, then goes to stereo in the chorus to give it that “uplifting” effect. Radioactivist This song was originally called í¢ä‰åñThe Class of Nuke ‘Em Highí¢ä‰åŒ …named after the movie. Later changed it because I wasn’t feeling the whole naming-a-song-after-a-movie thing. Self-destructive actions, impure thoughts, living dangerously in a poison-filled world. It’s human nature. People have a right to be shitty. In a more responsible way of thinking í¢ä‰åäóì it’s standing up for yourself and others in a hostile environment. Divebomb Rock N Roll. No Future. Live freely. It’s good to acknowledge it! We’ve been playing this song forever and it’s still exciting. í¢ä‰åñChinese bodyguards…í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì yep. Droppin Bombs On Your Moms A little old-school slang for ya… This is one of the few songs where the lyrics were written from start to finish without changing anything… just venting my distaste for bad trends… I guess there’s good trends too í¢ä‰åäóì ok. I say í¢ä‰åñventingí¢ä‰åŒ because I realize following trends is also human nature and won’t ever change. The music was influenced by 7 Seconds and really old Soundgarden. Reactor Originally titled í¢ä‰åñAftermathí¢ä‰åŒ on the í¢ä‰åñHigh Revoltageí¢ä‰åŒ album… it made it’s comeback when Twig joined the band and said it was one of his favorite songs. By the time we tightened up the music and lyrics it ended up as í¢ä‰åñReactorí¢ä‰åŒ. It’s like Crass meets í¢ä‰åñYellow Submarineí¢ä‰åŒ meets Fugazi. Completely serious and ridiculous at the same time. The world is a weird place. This is the closest thing to an í¢ä‰åñanthemí¢ä‰åŒ that I’d ever want to write. Strike Tonight Betrayal, revenge… and freight trains. The 1st verse says í¢ä‰åñWe’re on a trainwreck running ashore…í¢ä‰åŒ, and to this day I can’t stop singing it as í¢ä‰åñWe’re on a freight train…í¢ä‰åŒ! There is some pretty intense single-foot kick drum work going on in this track! It was funny recording this because Amir kept calling JD í¢ä‰åñpussy footí¢ä‰åŒ and would accuse him of í¢ä‰åñpf.’ingí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìnot kicking hard enough. We were laughing our asses off at JD’s expense… he later thanked Amir for egging him on. El Salvador Musical Influences- Fu Manchu, Bad Brains, In My Eyes, At The Gates. It’s a song about saving yourself FROM yourself. I got my lyrical inspiration after several weeks of being around the Hollywood party-crowd. Lots of sad cokeheads and pill-poppers self-destructively trying to better themselves. Ok, the Espa퀌±ol is also a shout out to my Latino homies! When I heard that nasty guitar riff at the end I just thought to myself, í¢ä‰åñhmmm…. ‘El Salvador’.í¢ä‰åŒ Social Meltdown A bad hair day. An outpouring of frustration, boredom, and self-consciousness. Yet keeping the faith that things will change í¢ä‰åäóìit’s in your hands. The music was a result of just toying around with several different drum beats and guitar riffs. We joked at the thought of calling this one í¢ä‰åñChernobylí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìbecause of the word í¢ä‰åñmeltdowní¢ä‰åŒ. Image that… í¢ä‰åñStalingradí¢ä‰åŒ AND í¢ä‰åñChernobylí¢ä‰åŒ on the same record?! People would trip on my obsession with Russia… really all I want is a mail-order bride. We ended up changing the breakdown in this one right before we entered the studio. It seemed like a good idea at the time but I kind of miss the original way… it did this out-of-tempo slow down and heavy lurch. Yeah, I guess it was kind of stupid í¢ä‰åäóì whatever! Golden Gold… nowadays if you REALLY want to bling, you gotta have PLATNIUM. í¢ä‰åñRocky IVí¢ä‰åŒ is that one where Apollo Creed gets knocked-out dead and was all convulsing and shit. Chuck Norris rocks by virtue of being a kung-fu master and having a beard. He also gets to say í¢ä‰åñBruce Lee may have kicked my ass, but at least I’m still alive!í¢ä‰åŒ. The rest of the song should be self-explanatory. Motorhead meets Bad Brains. The Waltz This was the last song written & recorded for the album. We wanted to try something a bit different from what we normally play. So I got together and jammed with Amir and we came up with the chorus. This ended up being a fun track to record since nobody knew what to expect. Our engineer Matt, had this old piano in his studio and started playing the main riff of the song, so we added his performance in on the last chorus. It was originally named í¢ä‰åñThe Waltzí¢ä‰åŒ because of the 6/8 timing of the breakdown. When the lyrics were finished í¢ä‰åäóì this tale of cut-throat living, the title still seemed to fit so we kept it. Shoot!Move!Communicate! My friend Ben from the band the Hoods wrote me a letter from the county jail and signed it í¢ä‰åñstay up!í¢ä‰åŒ. The í¢ä‰åñshoot, move, communicateí¢ä‰åŒ is U.S. Army talk for battlefield strategy í¢ä‰åäóìthe song parallels life as this battlefield of sorts… yeah, like Pat Benatar’s í¢ä‰åñLove Is A Battlefieldí¢ä‰åŒ. í¢ä‰åñI put the tape in and drive…í¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì I actually still have a tape deck in my old ’86 Ford van. Mark heard a demo of í¢ä‰åñS!M!C!í¢ä‰åŒ & wrote the guitar solo in this song before he was even officially in the band! This song was originally written and recorded at the same time we did a Christmas song (í¢ä‰åñHoliday Suicideí¢ä‰åŒ) for the í¢ä‰åñElves Built My Hot Rodí¢ä‰åŒ compilation í¢ä‰åäóì a benefit for the Sacramento Skatepark Advocates. Who says we don’t help the community?! Bl’ast! The System The spelling of í¢ä‰åñ Bl’ast! í¢ä‰åŒ pays homage to the late, great 1980’s hardcore band Bl’ast! I actually met the singer, Clifford at our last show in San Francisco í¢ä‰åäóìand yes, we played this song! Bl’ast! is a huge influence on Red Tape, so I was super-stoked to play for, and then hang out with one of my musical heroes. The song is about loud music as civil disobedience. Jiu-Jitsu (B-side) This is the opposite of í¢ä‰åñSocial Meltdowní¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìan outpouring of positivity and excitement. The lyric í¢ä‰åñinsomniac dojoí¢ä‰åŒ refers to your own personal space where you write, draw, build, practice, or create your art. The musical influence is drawn from Snapcase, Bl’ast!, and Sick of It All. The Program (B-side) í¢ä‰åñFucking up the program.í¢ä‰åŒ …more old-school ghetto slang! It can be GOOD like, í¢ä‰åñyeah, we are…. !í¢ä‰åŒ or BAD like í¢ä‰åñhey man, you’re…í¢ä‰åŒ The song is kind of like that movie í¢ä‰åñOffice Spaceí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì I actually wrote it at work in my cubicle. Dealing with robotic business-minded í¢ä‰åñprofessionalsí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóì you long for some humanity out of the rat race. It’s another way of saying í¢ä‰åñyoung ’till I die!í¢ä‰åŒ. í¢ä‰åñTrust youthí¢ä‰åŒ í¢ä‰åäóìI saw those words scratched into my friend’s Zippo lighter… he’s Japanese by the way, where punk rockers have more freedom to be fucking weird! That’s why I can’t wait to go there.

A quick chat with the new guy… Chimaira’s new drummer, Ricky Evensand. What did you learn about Chimaira in those 3 weeks over here? 3 weeks in a tour bus with people all around you can be a pain in the ass, but not with these guys. If you want to party you can do that, if you want to just chill out you can do that. No one in this band is hard to hang out with. Have you settled in well? I think so even though the language barrier can lead to misunderstandings. But it can lead to fun stuff too. How does playing with Chimaira compare to playing with Soilwork? It’s different, in Soilwork it was more improvisation. In Chimaira it is more important to play the songs the way they were written. Has anything in the last 3 weeks made you question your decision to join Chimaira? No not at all, I’m having a blast hopefully this will last for a long time. What has been the highlight of these UK dates for you? The fans, they’ve been awesome to me, I could never imagine that kind of response. Do you have a favorite show? London at the Mean Fiddler. It was sold out the fans were amazing and it was a really good venue!

So you want something new to read? Check out this little lot… PLAYMUSIC 3 page Dirty Americans feature in new issue (March 2004) TERRORIZER Large Cradle Of Filth news story re RR signing & new album. Red Tape ‘Breaking Faces’ piece Every Time I Die album is in No. 26 Top 40 writers albums of the year (Issue out Feb 19th) POWERPLAY Brilliant 8/10 Dirty Americans review (March 2004) Great 8/10 Red Tape album review (March 2004) 1 Page Dirty Americans feature KERRANG! Mark Hunter’s top 10 albums (current issue)

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION US TOUR! Machine Head. Arch Enemy. God Forbid. Yeah, you read that right. Machine Head, Arch Enemy and God Forbid will be hitting the road together this Spring for the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” tour, a monster outing that is currently set to attack most major U.S. cities in its path starting this April and continuing on into May. Following their successful European tour in support of their new album, “Through The Ashes Of Empires”, Machine Head will be out in support of the North American release of the record, due out April 20th. “It’s great to have a band like Arch Enemy, that’s not only one of my favorite bands, but are one of the best metal bands out right now,” exclaims Machine Head drummer Dave McClain, adding “and God Forbid is a great new band with a killer new album, and I can’t wait to see them tear it up on tour.” Stay tuned for confirmed dates and news on this beast of a tour…